An adventure in swaging.

[oldrodder]

I've been swaging bullets for more than 35 years. Mostly .224 made from .22RF and .429 made from .40S&W
So a few weeks ago, I thought I would try to make .357 from used brass. Trying to find donor brass was a challenge but a search of Lyman's 50th yielded 2 possibilities: .32 S&W and .30 Carbine with the Carbine winning.
Here's the process:
Use fired brass, don't resize or deprime.
Trim the brass to provide a jacket of adequate lenght.
Photo shows the jacket made from Carbine brass and the core, made in a .30 cal bullet mould.
https://i.imgur.com/kd7jEpL.jpg


Anneal the brass.
Seat the core
This photo shows the process evolving.....the core, the jacket. at left is the two combined by swaging.
https://i.imgur.com/DsilBsD.jpg


Form the point

https://i.imgur.com/j1CMFfF.jpg

Clean the bullet in a small tumbler with water, ss pins, Lemishine and Dawn

https://i.imgur.com/UKH5xgu.jpg

Cut a cannelure and you're done!!

Not sure if it's worth the effort but it's nice knowing that it is doable. With the Carbine case being as long as it is, the possibilities are endless!!

 

[Rob 22]

That's pretty neat. Does the extractor groove or the spent primer cause any issues with accuracy ??

 

[gnmontey]

Not sure what I'm looking at there? Are your images depicting loaded ammo or projectiles?

M

 

[oldrodder]

Not sure what I'm looking at there? Are your images depicting loaded ammo or projectiles?

M

Projectiles. I've added text to the original post to clarify.
Planned on trying them today but it's a bit cold in Northern Ontario today. Maybe tomorrow.

 

[oldrodder]

That's pretty neat. Does the extractor groove or the spent primer cause any issues with accuracy ??

I haven't shot these yet. I do the same process with 40S&W brass to make a .44 cal (.429") and no problems there.

 

[jamesharrison]

I wonder if it would work, using .30 Carbine brass, for >300 grain .358" bullets...........

Been playing around with the same thing, albeit with .45 ACP brass & ~400 grain lead bullets swaged together for inexpensive .458 Winchester bullets. Nice to see I'm not the only crazy one doing this.

;-)

 

[bertn]

Nice, thanks for sharing.
How is the accuracy?

 

[billbmcleod]

I am just not sure how the point or the cannelure was formed. Maybe I am missing something.

 

[Brassman66]

Sweet and Cheers

 

[Boolitcaster]

Too cool. I am drawing down 5.56 brass for 303 jackets. The first of the four drawing steps is to .350" which should work for your purposes if carbine brass becomes too dear.
Happy swaging!

 

[Rob 22]

This bullet swaging has really caught my interest. Could you guys post few picts of your setups and how the dies are made. Are the swage dies and press something I can make in my shop with the lathe ??

 

[oldrodder]

I wonder if it would work, using .30 Carbine brass, for >300 grain .358" bullets...........

Been playing around with the same thing, albeit with .45 ACP brass & ~400 grain lead bullets swaged together for inexpensive .458 Winchester bullets. Nice to see I'm not the only crazy one doing this.

;-)

There's no reason it shouldn't work. Weight would be limited by the depth of the cavity in the dies. Would need re-adjusting the dies tho. I misplaced my Carbine brass, when I find it, I'll try a few.

 

[oldrodder]

This bullet swaging has really caught my interest. Could you guys post few picts of your setups and how the dies are made. Are the swage dies and press something I can make in my shop with the lathe ??

Skilled machinists have been making dies and presses since the process was invented! I use 2 RCBS Rock Chuckers and a Lee Classic Cast and dies made by C-H for pistol bullets and Ted SMith dies for the .224" stuff. Lots of info on swaging on the cast boolits website. Lots more on Youtube. Look for posts by BTSniper. He makes and sells dies and modified Lee presses for swaging. Check out Dave Corbin as well.
Be warned......it's not a cheap endeavor.......and it's addicting!!!

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/forum.php

https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=Bullet+swaging

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SN_fYyl8pEw

 

[Rob 22]

Skilled machinists have been making dies and presses since the process was invented! I use 2 RCBS Rock Chuckers and a Lee Classic Cast and dies made by C-H for pistol bullets and Ted SMith dies for the .224" stuff. Lots of info on swaging on the cast boolits website. Lots more on Youtube. Look for posts by BTSniper. He makes and sells dies and modified Lee presses for swaging. Check out Dave Corbin as well.
Be warned......it's not a cheap endeavor.......and it's addicting!!!

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/forum.php

https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=Bullet+swaging

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SN_fYyl8pEw

Great thanks for the links. I'm definitely going to look into this further. Taking my own cast bullets a step further will be next endeavour for sure

jamesharrison
This is really making me think about my 458 Lott .....could be some really interesting load development in the future

Thanks to both of you !!!

 

[Seagull]

I haven't shot these yet. I do the same process with 40S&W brass to make a .44 cal (.429") and no problems there.

Have you ever recovered the fired ones? I would love to see pics.
Thanks for posting.

 

[oldrodder]

Have you ever recovered the fired ones? I would love to see pics.
Thanks for posting.

No, I haven't recovered any. I will likely run some tests in the Spring. I'm not doing anything to bond the core to the jacket other than a cannelure. Because I have to shorten the Carbine case so much, the jacket is relatively thick. Some swagers add a drop of flux in the jacket, then insert the core in the jacket then stand them upright on a cookie sheet, set the oven on "Self clean" and pray the process is done by the time "mamma" gets home from shopping!!!

 

[davide montini]

Nice to see a fellow from Sudbury !!!
Nice to see how you did it